Master P: Ghetto Postage : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

A few years ago, when hip-hop turned as glammy as Puffy's shoe collection, New Orleans' Master P and his No Limit "army" of rappers released disc after brightly packaged disc, all of which flew out of record stores. P realized that not all hip-hoppers craved trendiness or transcendence -- some just wanted well-carpentered gangsta-style joints. On Ghetto Postage, Master P remains on the job. In "'B' I Like," he figures that somebody's cute girlfriend needs a thug in her life; in "Doo Rags," his crewmen are still "ready to roll," scarves on their heads, mouths "full of gold." On "Life I Live," Master P describes his impolite world of gentlemen's clubs and independent companies, of "gamblin' and puffin'." The music is screwy yet brutally to the point, unpredictable yet never flighty. The closest it comes to whimsical is the sex-minded "Would You," where P unrolls a slippery string arrangement -- Master P isn't softening, but even hood rats occasionally have to swoon.